VaNews Aug. 1, 2019
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** EXECUTIVE BRANCH
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** NORTHAM: OVER 300,000 VIRGINIAN NOW ENROLLED IN EXPANDED MEDICAID PROGRAM ([link removed])
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By ERIN PATTERSON, WSET

Governor Ralph Northam announced on Wednesday that over 300,000 adult Virginians are enrolled in health coverage and receiving medical services since the Commonwealth expanded its Medicaid program. Northam made the announcement at a community health center, Neighborhood Health.


** EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION FUNDING, READINESS ARE LOCAL, STATE CONCERNS ([link removed])
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By MEGAN WILLIAMS, Daily News Record (Subscription Required)

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s office recently announced a push for more funding to make sure all Virginia students have accessible pre-kindergarten education. Northam signed Executive Directive Four, which establishes the Executive Leadership Team on School Readiness. The team will be responsible for making recommendations that unify and strengthen Virginia’s early childhood system ... Although Rockingham County currently has 20 pre-k programs with 18 slots per program, there are still waiting lists


** STATE ELECTIONS
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** VIRGINIA SAYS IT’S TOO LATE TO ADD REPUBLICAN LEGISLATOR TO THE NOVEMBER BALLOT ([link removed])
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By LAURA VOZZELLA, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

State elections officials have denied a belated request to put Del. Nicholas J. Freitas on the November ballot, a decision that could force the Culpeper Republican to run as a write-in candidate in a year when the GOP cannot afford to lose any seats.


** REPUBLICANS SAY PROTEST OF TRUMP SHOWS DEMOCRATS ARE UNPATRIOTIC AND IN DISARRAY ([link removed])
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By GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

One act of defiance against President Trump launched Virginia Republicans and Democrats into a frenzy of accusations and fundraising this week. The Republican Party of Virginia warned donors that “Democrats hate America.” State GOP leaders crowed that Democrats are in disarray. Democrats shot back that Republicans are ducking responsibility for their leader’s divisive comments.


** FEDERAL ELECTIONS
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** ROB JONES SEEKS GOP NOD FOR 10TH DISTRICT NOMINATION ([link removed])
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By ONOFRIO CASTIGLIA, Winchester Star (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Rob Jones, a Marine Corps veteran and double-amputee, is seeking the Republican nomination to run against Rep. Jennifer Wexton, D-10, in 2020. Jones, 33, is known for running 31 marathons in 31 days for veterans causes. He grew up in Loudoun County, graduated from Virginia Tech in 2007 and joined the Marines Reserves in 2006 while a junior in college.


** STATE GOVERNMENT
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** VIRGINIA CLOSES $8 MILLION LAND DEAL IN HANOVER FOR ABC RELOCATION PROJECT ([link removed])
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By C. SUAREZ ROJAS, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Preliminary site work on a new headquarters and distribution center for the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority is set to begin this fall following the completion of an $8 million land deal in Hanover County. State officials finalized buying approximately 40 acres from Riverstone Properties, the real estate arm of local businessman William H. Goodwin Jr.’s Riverstone Group, in July.


** VITA NAMES CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER FOR NEW ORGANIZATION ([link removed])
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By MICHAEL MARTZ, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Virginia’s newly reorganized information technology agency has hired a chief operating officer to run its new model for delivering IT services to 63 state agencies and 55,000 employees. Jonathan Ozovek will become COO of the Virginia Information Technologies Agency on Aug. 12


** FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SAYS VIRGINIA IS OVERCALCULATING SNAP PAYMENTS ([link removed])
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By SARAH VOGELSONG, Virginia Mercury

Virginia got a slap on the wrist this week and may be subject to financial penalties after the federal government found that the state had one of the highest rates of error in the nation in calculating its food-assistance payments. According to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Tuesday, Virginia miscalculated its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, payments to recipients in about 9.62% of cases during fiscal year 2018. ...The agency emphasized that the error rates are not a measure of fraud.


** STATE FORENSIC SCIENTISTS SAY SOON THEY’LL HAVE TESTS TO DISTINGUISH HEMP FROM POT ([link removed])
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By NED OLIVER, Virginia Mercury

The state forensic science lab plans to distribute 15,000 field tests to police departments around Virginia that will help officers distinguish between hemp and marijuana plants, which can appear identical but carry very different legal implications. “You can’t tell the difference … without some kind of quantitative testing,” said Linda Jackson, who directs the Department of Forensic Science.


** TRANSPORT DEAL TO EASE BURDEN ON LOCAL POLICE FORCES ([link removed])
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By JASMINE DENT FRANKS, Bland County Messenger

New vehicles used to transport individuals under temporary detention orders to mental health treatment facilities look like the average vehicle on the outside. The unmarked Dodge SUVs give no indication who is inside and where they are headed, and that’s part of the appeal. Until the alternative transport program was rolled out Monday, those patients were hauled away to a hospital in the back of a police car


** CONGRESS
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** SENATOR ON FORD CARRIER WOES: "THIS OUGHT TO BE CRIMINAL" ([link removed])
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By HUGH LESSIG, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Chronic problems with the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford moved front and center Wednesday during a Senate hearing to consider the Navy’s next top admiral. Senate Armed Services Chairman James Inhofe kicked off the questioning of Vice Adm. Michael Gilday by reciting a litany of problems on Ford that have resulted in well-publicized delays and cost overruns.


** TWO U.S. SENATORS ARE ADVOCATING TO ADD MORE LAND TO FORT MONROE ([link removed])
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By JULIA MARSIGLIANO, Williamsburg-Yorktown Daily (Metered paywall - 3 articles per month)

U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine have submitted a bill to add 40 “coastal acres” of land to the National Park Service to create an unbroken coastline along the Chesapeake Bay. This year marks the 400th anniversary of the first African slaves arriving at the historic fort.


** KAINE: IMMIGRATION AGENCIES NEED TO COOPERATE TO ASSURE BETTER DETENTION CONDITIONS ([link removed])
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By DAVE RESS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

The stories coming back of overcrowding and lack of sanitary facilities or running water at the places where immigration officials detain migrants from Central America have unsettled many Americans — but one thing missing, until Sen Tim Kaine’s visit last week, was anything terribly specific about fixing the problem.


** SPANBERGER TACKLES TOUGH TOPICS DURING CULPEPER TOWN HALL ([link removed])
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By CLINT SCHEMMER, Culpeper Star Exponent (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Rep. Abigail Spanberger covered the waterfront during her Culpeper town hall Tuesday night, fielding questions on a wide range of issues, including agriculture, immigration, health care and more. About 100 people gathered in Culpeper County High School’s auditorium to hear the 7th District’s first-term congresswoman share her thoughts on what mattered to them, and what she’s been working on.


** ‘COMMON SENSE’ A THEME OF GUN-CONTROL TOWN HALL ([link removed])
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By BILL ATKINSON, Progress Index (Metered paywall - 5 free articles a month)

State and federal leaders were joined by advocates in Petersburg to answer questions about curbing gun violence Rep. A. Donald McEachin, pressing for what he called “common-sense” gun-control laws, said he would like to see a law passed that hits citizens in the pocketbook for carelessly handling firearms.


** ONE MODERATE DEMOCRAT THINKS SHE'S FOUND A WAY TO SURVIVE IN AN IMPEACHMENT-CENTERED CONGRESS ([link removed])
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By LAUREN FOX, CNN

There's an avalanche of new support for opening an impeachment inquiry among the House Democratic caucus members into President Donald Trump. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, the first Democrat to represent her district in almost 50 years, is happy to let those calls happen without her.


** REPUBLICAN LAWMAKER DISOWNED BY COUNTY GOP AFTER OFFICIATING SAME-SEX WEDDING ([link removed])
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By ELI ROSENBERG, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

Rep. Denver Riggleman has tallied a complicated record on LGBT rights in his brief stint in Congress. Riggleman (R-Va.), elected in 2018, opposed the Equality Act, which would have banned discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. And he voted against a resolution opposing President Trump’s ban on transgender service members.


** WITTMAN URGES MORE ATTENTION TO RURAL BROADBAND ([link removed])
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By DAVE RESS, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

When it comes to going online, Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Westmoreland, represents a very mixed-up district — up at the northern end, the Northern Virginia suburbs of central and southern Prince William County, constituents have some of the best broadband access around, with speeds upwards of a gigabit. Down on the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck, where a fifth of his constiuents (and Wittman himself) live, not so much.


** ECONOMY/BUSINESS
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** PORT OF VIRGINIA'S MASSIVE EXPANSION PROJECT IS DONE, BUT NOT EVERYONE IS HAPPY ([link removed])
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By GORDON RAGO, Virginian-Pilot (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

After about two years, the Port of Virginia has finally been able to put a bow on one of its major expansion projects. Virginia International Gateway, one of the two main terminals, is now 800 feet longer. It can accommodate three ultra-large container ships at once and features more than a dozen new stacking yards to pack in more containers to be whisked away by truck or by rail.


** TRANSPORTATION
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** OFFICIALS: MORE MONEY AND TRAINS KEYS TO I-95 CONGESTION BATTLE ([link removed])
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By SCOTT SHENK, Free Lance-Star (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Several speakers touched on key aspects of the area transportation network during a Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce gathering Wednesday morning. As usual, Interstate 95 dominated the conversation, but the speakers—including Rep. Rob Whitman, R–1st—also touched on funding issues and the importance trains can play in helping fix congestion problems throughout the corridor.


** VIRGINIA COMMUTER BUS REDUCES SERVICE DUE TO WORK STOPPAGE ([link removed])
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By MAX SMITH, WTOP

Thousands of commuters will need to find a different way to work Thursday morning, PRTC OmniRide warned. The bus system serving the Prince William County and Manassas area in Virginia said a work stoppage began Thursday.


** HIGHER EDUCATION
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** TNCC LOOKS TO LAYOFFS AFTER BUDGET MISSTEPS LEAD TO $1.7 MILLION SHORTFALL ([link removed])
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By MATT JONES, Daily Press (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

A series of budget and financial errors, including an improper $250,000 loan, left Thomas Nelson Community College short $1.7 million at the end of the past fiscal year in June. TNCC expects to lay off employees across all categories and restructure programs in the coming months to help bring its finances back in line.


** WILLIAM & MARY TO RESEARCH SLAVERY LEGACY THROUGH NEW $1 MILLION GRANT ([link removed])
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By JUSTIN MATTINGLY, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

A new grant aims to help the College of William & Mary look more at the legacy of slavery and racism at the country’s second-oldest college. The university announced late Wednesday that it had been awarded a $1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, money the school said would help with research into slavery at William & Mary and Highland, the home of former President James Monroe


** COLLEGE OF WILLIAM & MARY TO EXPLORE THE LEGACIES OF SLAVERY AND RACISM ([link removed])
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By SUSAN SVRLUGA, Washington Post (Metered Paywall - 3 articles a month)

The College of William & Mary will deepen and broaden the examination of its own history with a grant emphasizing the experiences of people enslaved by the school and the Founding Fathers.


** VIRGINIA OTHER
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** PIPE COATING IS SAFE, MOUNTAIN VALLEY TELLS REGULATORS ([link removed])
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By LAURENCE HAMMACK, Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

A protective coating applied to the massive pipeline under construction in Virginia and West Virginia poses no known harms, developers of the Mountain Valley Pipeline have told federal regulators.


** FORMER VA. GOV. GILMORE - AND ONE-TIME TRUMP RIVAL - ELEVATED TO AMBASSADORSHIP IN EUROPE ([link removed])
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By LANA AUSTIN, WHSV

A Virginian will now be tasked with leading diplomatic talks in Europe – confronting urgent global security challenges. From escalating tensions with Russia to Britain's planned exit from the European Union, former Governor Jim Gilmore is taking on a leading role for the U.S. abroad.


** LOCAL
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** FUNDING WILL PROBE TO SEE IF ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS EXIST AT FORMER DANVILLE MILL SITES ([link removed])
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By JOHN R. CRANE, Danville Register & Bee

Danville will receive $300,000 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to conduct environmental assessments in the River District and the Schoolfield area. The White Mill and Long Mill properties and Schoolfield sites — all former parts of the sprawling Dan River Inc. — will be the priority for the assessments.


** $500K GRANT WILL OPEN SOLAR PROJECT IN WISE COUNTY ([link removed])
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By TIM DODSON, Bristol Herald Courier (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

A large-scale solar project is being planned in Wise County thanks to a $500,000 grant from a program focused on reclaiming and developing abandoned mine sites. This is the first project of its type in Southwest Virginia, and it will generate more than three megawatts of clean energy for the Mineral Gap Data Center, according to a Wednesday news release from the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy.


** EDITORIALS
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** 3 RIGHTS AND 2 WRONGS AT JAMESTOWN ([link removed])
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Roanoke Times Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Five observations from this week’s tumultuous observance of 400th anniversary of the birth of representative democracy in North America: 1. President Trump said the right things in his speech. It’s hard to talk about the 400th anniversary of the first elected legislature without talking about the 400th anniversary of something that happened a month later — the arrival of the first enslaved Africans. To his credit, Trump made a point of addressing that.


** KEEP DRIVERS' LICENSE PHOTOS IN THE DMV ([link removed])
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Free Lance-Star Editorial (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

With many, if not most, Americans willingly plastering their mugs all over social media, it may seem a little late to complain about government agencies using drivers’ license photographs to build massive facial-recognition databases without their knowledge or consent. But there’s a big difference between deciding to put your own face out there for everyone on the internet to see, and having federal law enforcement agencies surreptitiously collecting your state-mandated photograph from the Department of Motor Vehicles without asking you first.


** COLUMNISTS
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** SCHAPIRO: HISTORY AT JAMESTOWN DWARFED BY HISTORY-MAKING TRUMP SPAT ([link removed])
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By JEFF E. SCHAPIRO, Richmond Times-Dispatch (Metered Paywall - 5 articles a month)

Virginia’s contradictory history as the birthplace of American democracy and American slavery now might be more difficult to comprehend. Credit the history-making hissing match over President Donald Trump’s speech Tuesday at the 400th anniversary observance of the New World’s first foray in representative government.


** OP-ED
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** MARKS: MOUNTAIN VALLEY PIPELINE PROTESTS GO TOO FAR ([link removed])
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By JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, Published in the Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

Many of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates have proposed ambitious plans for phasing out oil and gas products and shifting solely to renewable energy sources. Notably, not one of their proposals endorses assaulting pipeline workers, lighting fire to equipment, creating human blockades, living in trees, or chaining people to excavators. Yet, regrettably, all these tactics have recently been employed by protesters of the Mountain Valley Pipeline

James “Spider” Marks Marks is a retired U.S. Army major general and strategic advisor to the GAIN Coalition -- Grow America's Infrastructure Now.


** ROBBINS: EFFECTIVE ETHICAL BEHAVIOR BY COURAGEOUS ORGANIZER IS EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF ESCALATION ([link removed])
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By MARA ROBBINS, Published in the Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

On June 28, the day after the State Water Control Board met in Richmond and once again refused to take emergency action to immediately stop work on the Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC (MVP), Michael James-Deramo chained himself to an excavator and stopped construction in that location for more than six hours. The state police removed him and charged him with two misdemeanors. And how, exactly, did this help stop the pipeline?

Robbins is a founding member of Preserve Floyd


** PARKER: GOOD IDEAS, BUT THEY DON'T SOLVE THE PROBLEM ([link removed])
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By ANDY PARKER, Published in the Roanoke Times (Metered Paywall - 10 articles a month)

I felt the need to respond to the recent commentary of House Majority Leader Todd Gilbert (“A proven way to reduce gun violence,” July 28.) The programs he touts — Project Ceasefire and Project Exit — are actually pretty good ideas that need to be implemented, but to say they are the solution to the scourge of gun violence in our state is utterly ridiculous.

Parker, of Henry County, is the father of the late WDBJ-TV journalist Alison Parker
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